I haven't worked since March 2001. My employment history is funky. My first job was at McDonald's in Fredonia, New York. I loved that place, especially once I started closing. The closing crew we had was awesome. Aside from closing, I loved doing maintenance on the weekend. I didn't have to deal with customers all that much. I was quite happy in the freezer stacking boxes or hauling garbage to the dumpster. After Mickey D's, I had a work-study job on my college campus. I cleaned the dorms during the summer, when the Buffalo Bills had their training camp. I once asked Marv Levy if he had a banana in is pocket or was he just happy to see me. He had a banana in his pocket. I also got Steve Christie's autograph. I even stole a pair of John Butler's shorts. Now, he was a bigger guy and his shorts did not fit me, but don't worry - I grew into them.
So I did that few a couple summers, and I worked at Bob Evans as a bus boy (?) for a month. I hated that place so much, I don't even think I went back for my last paycheck. But I got my dream job shortly after that - tutoring science for the Upward Bound Program on campus. I worked with high school kids in various capacities for about 4 years after that, and I loved it. LOVED IT.
I left that job to move to North Carolina, where my mom had moved with her new husband. She got me a job at a little store that sold lighthouse crap. It was was okay, but I missed teenagers. Luckily, I found a job as a "high risk intervention mentor" and got to work one-on-one with behaviorally challenged kids. My first client was a 16 year old male (who has grown into a wonderful young man, solider, and father). He phased out of the program and I was assigned a 7 year old girl. That only lasted a few months. Elementary aged children are not my forte. So I quit that job to focus on grad school. A couple years later, I became a stay-at-home mom. It wasn't until my son started kindergarten that I felt comfortable enough to try working again. He was sick a lot in preschool so I could never do it then.
I bit the bullet and took my course to become a substitute teacher. Due to Sebastian's schedule and the weird way the schools here do not all start at the same time, the only school I was available to sub in was his elementary school. I took my phone to bed every night, waiting for that last minute call. Of course, it never came. Then I learned from a fellow sub (who was worked to death in the same elementary school), that the cafeteria needed subs. They aren't called lunch ladies anymore. They are child nutrition managers & employees. (Let me assure you, there is very little "nutritious" about the school lunches.) Anyway, I emailed the Child Nutrition Director, and since I was already approved to substitute teach, it took less than 24 hours for me to be put on the list for the cafeteria - all 8 of them, since the hours worked with our schedule. And to my surprise, the phone rang in the morning. It was my son's school, and they needed someone that day. I was a little scared but whatever. I hadn't worked in almost a decade and I was just sure I'd commit some employment faux pas. But I didn't. I served lunch to hundreds of elementary kids, including my own. It was a perfect shift - just 4 hours - of no stress, no pressure work.
My next gig was at a middle school. The hours were longer - 6 this time - and it cut it close, time-wise, for picking up Sebastian. But it's not horrible there, especially serving. The middle school kids know what they want and you don't have to ask them 50 million times whether they want crappy carbs or healthy vegetables. The middle school kids can't stack their trays for shit, so being in the washroom at the middle school sucks. The elementary kids are very good about stacking their trays, probably because they have a lot of guidance.
I've been at the middle school 4 times in the last 2 months. I've been at my son's elementary school 13 times, and I'm scheduled for 2 more this week. I had my first 6-hour shift there today and 6 hours there isn't nearly as long as 6 hours at the middle school. I would love to be a permanent lunch lady at my son's school. I have no desire to substitute teach there. That doesn't mean I don't want to substitute teach at all - I'd just prefer to teach the older kid. But until Sebastian moves to middle school and can become a latch-key kid, I'm chained to the little guys. And I'd much rather serve them food or wash their lunch trays than try to keep their attention for 6 hours a day. I have little patience on the best of days. I can't imagine dealing with 21 Sebastians for any length of time.
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